Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program

The NYSPCC’s Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program provides specialized and intensive services to vulnerable New York City children and their families: children in foster care and children involved in high-risk custody and visitation cases in family court proceedings. Therapeutic supervised visitation services are designed to help parents who cannot have unsupervised access to their children due to a history of child physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, or mental illness. Rather than eliminating contact between a non-custodial parent and child, supervised visitation creates a one-on-one supportive setting where the relationship can safely continue and be strengthened while pending legal issues are addressed by the child protective and court systems.

The NYSPCC has been providing supervised visitation services to New York City families since 1992. The program allows visiting parents

…to spend time with their children in the presence of a Master’s-level clinician or a Masters of Social Work intern supervised by The NYSPCC’s licensed clinicians. Families receive support from skilled clinicians to strengthen or repair their relationship with their children. Supervised visitation is intended to be a temporary remedy with most parents moving toward less restrictive or unsupervised visits with their child whenever possible. When a family is transitioning to unsupervised visits, The NYSPCC provides a neutral place for the safe transfer of children during unsupervised visits when there are restrictions placed on the contact between parents.

Committed to eliminating language and financial barriers to parent-child contact, The NYSPCC offers the only therapeutic supervised visitation program in New York City that provides bilingual (English/Spanish) services seven days and three evenings per week in order to accommodate working parents and school-age children. The NYSPCC’s services are provided free of charge.

Our services are enhanced by therapeutic intervention, including: parenting skills workshops, individual parent “coaching” sessions for visiting parents and, when needed, mental health counseling for children who have witnessed domestic violence or endured physical abuse, sexual abuse, and/or neglect. All families are offered these enhanced services. A program with this level of intensive supervised visitation services is unique in New York City and one of only a few such programs in the United States.

Referrals to The NYSPCC’s Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program are made through the NYC Administration for Children’s Services’ Manhattan Family Service Units and ACS contract agencies, NYC Family Courts, and the NYC Supreme Court Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) Part. While families are not able to refer themselves for services they are encouraged to speak with their attorneys to advocate for a referral through the Administration for Children’s Services or through the court system. Services are free to all participants. Families referred through the NYC Family Courts and NYC Supreme Courts IDV Part must earn less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Line as indicated on the chart below:

Household Size

200% of FPL

1

$22,980

2

31,020

3

39,060

4

47,100

5

55,140

6

63,180

7

71,220

8

79,260

For each additional

person, add..

$8,040

For more information on The NYSPCC’s Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program, and how families involved with NYC Family Court or Administration for Children’s Services that meet the eligibility criteria can be referred, please contact the Program Coordinator, Anna Fuentes, at 212.233.5500 x.205 or afuentes@nyspcc.org.

2016 Statistics

2016 Outcomes

1. 87% of visiting/non-custodial parents increased quality time with their children.

2. 95% of visiting/non-custodial parents reported an increase in knowledge and understanding of at least one of the following: parenting skills, children’s developmental stages, effective discipline techniques, and/or problem-solving skills.

3. 86% of parents who had at least 12 visits with their child(ren), increased their independent use of positive parenting skills in at least one of the following domains: engagement, safety, responding to children’s developmental needs, communication, effective discipline, and/or healing/empathy.

Location & Hours

The NYSPCC’s Main Office
161 William Street, Ninth Floor
New York, NY 10038-2607